Dissertation Abstract

Servants of All: Servant-Leadership in a Historically Black Fraternity

Michael Cardell Williams-Scurlock
Regent University

The primary objective of this exploratory multiple-case study was to investigate how servant leadership attributes (pioneering, modeling, appreciation of others, empowerment, and vision) have been demonstrated within a college student organization, specifically a historically Black fraternity in Illinois . This study used a case approach, examining alumni of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity college chapters in Illinois . The researcher interviewed 38 college chapter alumni from three distinct eras: those who were initiated at least 10+ years ago, those who were initiated over 20+ years ago, and those who were initiated over 30+ years ago. There were a number of similarities between all three eras. All three eras demonstrated all five functional servant leadership attributes. While there were some constant themes throughout the eras, there were a number of differences that became apparent during the data analysis and aggregation of the respondents' interviews. Each era had its own most important value as revealed by the frequency of respondents and frequency of citations. With the exception of the modeling attribute, there were several era-specific emerging sub themes.